Kolam by Sudha Balaji

  How to draw small kolam  First 4 by 4 dots kolam . The design is explained in just two steps.   For our daily purpose kolangal. All are white rangoli designs with one or two steps  First one is without chukki with one intermediate step, the second design is a 4 by 4 small chukki rangoli .   We need lots of kolam for our daily entrance decoration. Going down the memory lane, we sisters used to sit around our mother to learn kolam for the month of Margazhi.  Invariably these kolam are big.   Big rangoli without dots were also drawn by us.  There was no limit to the size because we could expand the design  to decorate the entire courtyard which was spacious.  When I started this blog there were requests for small kolam  due to the space and time constraints most of us face in today's fast paced life.  So, I started creating kutty kutty kolangal Some ideas are shared here. kutty kolam images  kutty kolam with dot...

 Rose petal garland DIY | Rose petal garland making T his post may have information on how to rose petal craft ideas , flower petal craft,  gulabi patti haar or mala .  This can be used for decoration for festivals viz Varalakshmi Pooja, Dasara Diwali or for occasions like wedding , baby shower.  Also can be tried for craft projects .  We have to be careful while handing the petals because they can tear easily, also we have to be careful when handling the needle , so avoid giving to children.  Of course we should be careful too when we handle the needle.  If you would like to have a look at a colourful rose rangoli with dots for Diwali  obviously Rangolisansdots being a website primarily for rangoli or kolam , it is available with steps and colours  or for that matter I even have a hibiscus kolam with 7 dots  created by me  We can tie both ends to form a garland  We need roses, long or medium size needle, thread and vaseline A...

Traditionally we have to stand and draw kolam at the entrance. Kolam is an art similar to rangoli that is drawn at the entrance of homes daily early in the morning.  When we stand, bend and draw kolam obviously we perform a physical exercise too. It is a good practice to draw the kolam standing at one position without moving around.  Having said this, I have to add that it is easy for small and medium sized designs (I can draw medium sized kolam also from one side because I use a compact dot grid). It is very difficult to do it from one side for bigger kolangal.  There is no hard and fast rule.  It depends upon what we are comfortable with.    This will improve our visual skills because we try to visualise the patterns to be drawn in various directions standing in one place It is preferable to draw it early in the morning before sunrise.  For a demo video please watch this video, how I stand and draw kolam  Some more tips based on viewers/rea...

It is a good practice to remove the garland offered to Gods in the Puja the next day before starting the Puja. The dry flowers are removed and kept in a separate basket or bamboo plate near Pooja mandir or in the Pooja room.  I offer the dried flowers to the Tulsi plant. In our family we do not put them in the dust bin. If Tulsi plant is not available, we can offer to any other plants or trees in our garden, terrace garden.   Also, these garlands are not reused for any other photo or for any other purpose in the house. Traditionally flowers are tied with vazhai naaru (banana bark fibre - dried) .   I removed the dried flowers and used the fibre again for tying flowers but only for Puja . Paneer rose petals, some fragrant leaves (called maru , dhavanam ) were ground with shikkai few decades back. Nowadays everything available readymade! 

I f some said beautiful rangoli can be drawn with big dot grids only, these two designs may prove them wrong.  Though I repeated many times, I would like to reiterate that in these days finding time for drawing rangoli at the entrance daily in the morning has become a premium. Naturally we look for small and quick kolams for our daily kolangal.  Add the factor of space, flats offer very little space for drawing kolam.  Compare it with our house in a small town where we grew up, we had the entire courtyard at our disposal, so sometimes even our daily designs would be as big as Margazhi kolam. The chikka rangoli galu  below use 2 by 2 dot patterns Chikka rangoli with 2 chukki Sanna chukki rangoli with 2 dots  Small is beautiful  Kanchi Mahaperiyava once said the word Jagatguru means Jagat Guru - the world is your teacher.  I learnt a lot of free hand rangoli designs ideas from my mother.  This started at a very young age, and this may be one of th...

After extending sixteen lines ,  place five dots above each line as shown in the images.  Follow the pics to learn the step by step procedure to draw the kolam.  Some call it the Vishnu Hrudaya rangoli just like the Lakshmi Hrudaya rangoli we usually draw.  It is preferable to draw it in the Puja room and for festivals like Varalakshmi Pooje , Diwali . As usual decorate with a  kaavi border.  We can make few decorations with kaavi inside the lotus too. Since the steps are repeated , it is quite easy to draw only thing is we should not lose our focus or else we may miss the dots.  For Lakshmi Pujan rangoli also , a traditional kolam. A unique kamal rangoli design. thamarai kolam for Friday  Sukruvara kamalada rangoli  Sukruvaram muggulu with dots step by step  Velli Kizhamai kolam through many pics  chukki rangoli , lotus design for Dasara One of the V aramahalakshmi Habba rangoli galu  Beautiful chukki rangoli for Varamahalaks...

I have used a compact dot grid i.e the space between dots is less so that it is easy to present the images.  The problem is that more concentration than usual is needed to draw long lines between/among the dots because it is very easy to get lost.  Step by step images for this big kambi kolam.   The step-by-step pictures below Such kolangal can be drawn for Margazhi kolams or Pongal too.  Kambi kolams are popular during Pongal festival.    Drawing long lines comes with practice, it is difficult but overall gives a beautiful effect because joints at the junction of line segments can be reduced, the longer the lines, lesser the joints. If the junctions are visible we have to fill up with kola podi .  If we do this at many places the beauty may get reduced.                                                        ...

While we would like to maintain our tradition, save our heritage, nowadays time is an important factor   Many of us are working and have to balance personal, official life.   Consequently, the need for quick and easy kolam.  We can try big and elaborate designs for festivals and functions and reserve small kolangal for our daily use. Also, nowadays most live in flats and the space available to draw kolam is restricted.  This is also a reason why small and simple kolams are in great demand. The pictures give some ideas on how we can create beautiful designs with just three dots.  Sky is the limit when we let our imagination run riot.   It is possible to create beautiful kolams using the smallest dot grids.  Hope the above pictures prove it. One important point to be noted is that small pulli vecha kolams or chukkala muggulu chinnavi that are drawn with dots can also be drawn without dots.   However, many of us find using dot gr...